I thought I was done with fanfiction, but anime boys keep dragging me back in...
Well anyways, I've been on the RinRei ship for a while now... Nagisa and Rei are adorable but for someone reason I just haven't been able to get Rin and Rei out of my head since the 4th episode. Anyway, please read and review~ I have a full schedule between school and work so getting feedback really motivates me!
Warning: This fanfiction is M for a reason. Some darker themes and harsh language lies ahead!
Head spinning, resisting the urge to clutch his chest or unnecessarily adjust his glasses, Rei stood facing the gates of the renown and visually embellished Samezuka Academy. School of the top-tier athletes and home of some of the best testing scores in the country. It neared the starting time for the first class, but Rei found himself feeling more and more reluctant as he walked to his homeroom, wishing nothing more than to be back at his school. His real school. He dragged his feet in the hallways, eyes cast downwards, slight tremors from his spine reaching all the way down to his arms, wishing he could be back at Iwatobi where his friends waited.
'How did I even get into this mess...', he thought bitterly, remembering the phone call that started this whole wreck.
xx
"Obaa-san, please don't, I'm happy where I'm at!"
Rei's grandmother laughed with good nature, thinking her grandson was only being modest and stubborn.
"Rei-chan, it really is no problem at all, you live in the Iwatobi district but I managed to pay a little extra and get you in to Samezuka. Your father can't handle these sorts of things, but I'm going to make sure my grandchild gets the best."
"But Obaa-san, if Otou-San finds out-"
"It'll be our little secret, right Rei-chan? You live on the outskirts of the Iwatobi district so it'll only be another train stop or two away."
Rei tried to argue with his grandmother in a hushed voice, but she laughed everything off and insisted that he not be so sheepish.
"If I had known that Samezuka was so close, I would have enrolled you there in the first place! My little Rei, it'll be a little hard transferring in the middle of the semester, but I promised your mother the very best for you! Now no more fussing, the transfer has already been made. And please," she said a little softer, "watch out for your father. So many years have passed but he's still not over her death... it must be so hard for him...", she trailed off.
Rei begrudgingly thanked his grandmother and hung up the phone with dread filling his body. He stood in the hallway in front of the house phone before he heard some shuffling from the television room down the hall. Adrenaline spiked through his body as he rushed down the other side of the hallway and up the stairs towards his room. Locking the door to his bedroom, Rei sat quietly at his desk, listening to see if he could hear where his father was moving. When the house remained dead silent for a stretch, he let out a exhale filled with relief.
'Please...' Rei thought, one hand grasping his forehead as he bent over his desk, ears flooding with the rushing sound of blood. 'Please don't let Otou-san find out about Samezuka.'
xx
Rei sat alone on the school grounds along one of the side walls, watching many of the other students pair up and group together to eat lunch together. Alone, he pulled out a swimming theory book and read quietly. At first his stomach made small sounds of protest, but by now he was quite good at quieting them. Very rarely did he have enough time to prepare a lunch in the morning, around waking up early enough to catch the right train, and between avoiding his father. His reading, however, was interrupted when a shadow was cast over his book. He looked up and saw a few fellow first years looking down at him.
"You're the transfer student, right? Ryugazaki?"
Rei stared for a moment, then sheepishly adjusted his glasses.
"Yes! Today is my first day." He quickly stood up to make a proper impression on these strangers. "I was a first year at Iwatobi, but I'm very excited to be at Samezuka!"
He gave a slight, polite bow which the other boys returned.
"Yeah, I remember you from the first track meet of the year between Iwatobi and Samezuka." Rei was surprised they recognized him from that one meet before he quit to join the swim team, but nodded enthusiastically anyway. "We're all first years too, so why don't you come sit with us? You know, really get you acquainted with our track team."
Rei internally jumped up and down with glee, but on the outside he gave a cool cough and adjusted his glasses more. "Of course, I don't see why not." 'Samezuka students are so friendly, I had no idea it would be this easy to make connections' Rei thought as he slung his bag over his shoulder and followed the unknown students farther behind the school.
xx
Back colliding with some garbage bags left out for collection, Rei stifled a cry of pain and opted for a harsh grunt instead. Blood dripping from his nose, down his face, he glared up at his assailants with venomous eyes. They all laughed when Rei tried to get up again and the leader of the pack kicked him back down.
"I'm not going to fight with you." Rei spat at them. The boys just smirked.
"Then you're going to get you ass kicked in. You made us look like shit in front of our upperclassmen when we lost to Iwatobi at the meet. It was the first track gathering, but that's also the best time to make an impression, and your school fucked us over."
Another boy rummaged through Rei's backpack and pulled out a his swimming theory book, looking at it with disgust. "This is what you do for fun? Fucking loser faggot." He began ripping pages upon pages out of the book and the other boys laughed like hyenas. Anger shot through Rei's veins like electricity as he lunged for the other boy, but as soon as he got hold of the collar of the boy's shirt, the two others were on him, ripping him off and kicking him to the ground. With all three kicking at the same time, Rei had no open spot to retaliate with. He protected his face, hoping that above anything else, his glasses weren't going to be broken in the scuffle. 'If Otou-san sees me with broken glasses, he'll-'
"What the fuck is going on back here?"
The blows immediately stopped and Rei lifted his head to look, heart absolutely still. If it was a teacher there was no way they were't going to call his house for fighting, there'd be no way to get out of this one, it was too late, his father would-
"Get the fuck outta here, all you little first year shits!"
The three assailants were sent running when an older, maroon haired student came charging towards them, faster than a shark towards fresh blood in the water. He stopped as soon as they turned the corner, and then turned back to Rei. They locked eye contact for a moment.
'Why does he look so familiar...'
The sensation of the cool blood dripping further down his face an down his neck brought him back to reality. He pulled a tissue out of his pocket and tried to wipe it away the best he could, looking away from upper classman with embarrassment burning in his eyes. Rei was strong, no doubt about that, but he hadn't seen the three students turning on him coming.
"T-thanks." Rei said painfully as the older student walked over and offered a hand to help Rei up. "What the fuck was that about?" the maroon haired boy asked, eyebrow turned upwards, unimpressed. Rei shuffled in his place, both with anger and shame for being caught losing a fight.
"I'm the transfer student," Rei grumbled, "I suppose it was my welcome to Samezuka."
The older boy continued to stare at him, eyebrow still raised, but finally let it go with a sigh. Crouching over, he began to pick up some of the crumpled and ripped up pages from Rei's once pristine book. Rei faltered, but soon began helping, figuring that this boy wasn't going to also beat the shit out of him. They worked in silence clearing the area before the upperclassman broke the silence.
"Rin."
Rei looked up surprised. When Rei didn't respond, the maroon haired boy sighed with annoyance and said, "Rin, My name's Rin."
Rei stared but then caught up with himself when Rin held out his collection of Rei's papers. "I'm Rei! Thank you, Rin-sempai."
Rin snorted and rolled his eyes. So Rei was like him. A guy with a girl's name.
"Whatever. Don't let this happen again." Rin walked away, hands in his pockets. Before he turned the corner, he turned back to Rei and said, "Go to the bathroom before heading back to class. You still look like you got the shit beat out of you." Then Rin disappeared begin the corner.
Rei stood there for a few more minutes, looking down at the stack of beaten papers in his hands.
Fucking perfect. Absolutely fucking perfect.
xx
Rei slipped into the house like a silent cat, the door not making any noise as he opened and closed it. He knew exactly where to step to make sure the floor didn't make any creaks and reveal his arrival. His swim jammers where tucked discreetly away in his backpack. Samezuka allowed him to continue to participate in Iwatobi's swimming club since he wasn't anywhere near talented enough to actually make it on their team. The used some excuse or another that it was because Rei was technically still in district for Iwatobi, but Rei honestly couldn't care any less. He had a feeling going to the club to see Nagisa-kun, Haruka-sempai, and Makoto-sempai was going to be the only good part of his days from now on. He had almost made it to the base of the stairs when he shuddered at the sound of a slurred voice.
"Is that you, Rei? Get your ass in here!"
Rei throat tightened, he swallowed lightly, and turned back down the hall and entered the television room, careful to keep his head slightly lowered and eyes refraining from direct contact.
"I'm home, Otou-san."
Rei's father, taller and heftier, sat unshaven upon a room full of garbage. Empty bottles of alcohol littered the room, and Rei's father chugged half a bottle of hard liquor as Rei spoke. When it was empty, he threw it across the room, not caring where it landed as he then sloppily lit a cigarette.
"Coming home without so much as a hello to your father? I think you've forgotten your manners."
